We now have proof the the selfie is behind us – the belfie – a selfie of your butt.

But they say the selfie is passe and going the way of the mullet. Has it’s partner-in-crime the selfie stick (or the narcissi-stick) gone with it? Apparently it has mutated to the belfie and belfie stick.

Okay, here are some definitions to help you catch-up

Selfie:
A picture of yourself taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone usually with the device held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror and often shared on social media.

Selfie Stick:
A device for those who have no friends to take their picture and don’t have access to a mirror. The selfie stick is a telescoping wands that extends a phone camera to get a better shot when taking a selfie.

Belfie:
A selfie of your butt

Belfie Stick:
A selfie stick designed to take a better belfie of your butt

The selfie has become core part of the social media culture. But let’s be honest, we have a love-hate relationship with the selfie.

For example, here’s why we love the selfie:

And now the hate:

Sorry Bieber fans, but even you have to admit this one is bad. Someone needs to take his selfie stick and spank him with it.

But where will this belfie/beflie-stick trend go – probably south. But for now the belfie stick appears to be the hottest stick in town. Yikes!

The belfie stick can help you get just the right angle to take flattering images of your best asset. But the belfie stick will set you back $79.99. Who can afford that bedsides Kim Kardashian? But it does seem like the perfect gift for the person who has everything and/or for someone wanting to spice-up their Tinder profile (or Grindr, no judgement here).

The study points to the blue light emitted by mobile devices as the guilty culprit. This short wavelength light can disrupt circadian rhythms, suppress levels of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, reduce the amount and delay the timing of REM sleep, and reduce alertness the following morning.

An author from the study was quoted in the The Wall Street Journal saying, “Many people read things to help them fall asleep. They probably don’t realize that this technology is actually making them less likely to feel sleepy.”

But fear not, can still keep reading as a part of you bedtime ritual, you can read a book – a traditional book – you know, those things made of paper. For the digital junkie who can’t let go of their tablet habit there may be a loophole with the original Kindle, specifically the one with no back-lighting.

Reading in bed is still a good way to wind-down, but you should use traditional printed materials, such as a bound book, printed magazine. or newspaper (yes, they still exist).

In a story that almost seems like a movie, the police find a 13-year-old boy behind a fake wall in his father’s house four years after his mother reported him missing. But what makes this story even more spectacular is how this tech savvy kid showed some clever tech skills to help the police with his rescue.

This young man, who has been identified as Gregory Jean, Jr. was being abused and held captive in a hidden room of a southern suburb house in Atlanta, Georgia. According to police, this secret chamber was behind a false wall that had been “camouflaged with towels.”

But how this smart young man engineered his own rescue is impressive. The police report that the boy managed to install the magicJack app (call magicApp) on a smartphone to which he had access. Using that app, which allows free phone calls, he contacted a family member in Florida, saying where he was and that he was being beaten by his father. This family member, reportedly his sister, then told his mother.

At first the police did not find Gregory, Jr. because the father and step mother had hid him in a secret room above the garage, accessed by a false plywood wall at the back of a closet.

However, Gregory, Jr. kept his cool and used the phone he had configured to call his mother directly with directions to the the hidden room. The police returned for a second visit as he was on the phone live with his mom, giving her instructions, when police finally located him.

The result is a tearful reunion with his mother and a story with a happy ending thanks to Gregory, Jr.’s smart use of technology.

Police have arrested the boy’s father, 37-year-old Gregory Jean Sr., and stepmother, 42-year-old Samantha Joy Davis, charging them with false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstruction. The other three people arrested were juveniles that were helping cover-up the kidnapping. The couple has been denied bond and are in jail.

For the father and stepmother, it’s going to take a lot more than a “magic app” to get these two off the hook for this heinous crime.

For Gregory Jean, Jr., keep an eye on this tech savvy kid as he is surely going places.

On 4/6/2010 a U.S. appeals court ruled against the FCC’s net neutrality regulations. This is a defeat for Internet freedom advocates and Internet users. But for big corporations, the same people who crashed our financial systems, this is a large win.

If greedy corporation get their hands on the Internet to impose their will then you can kiss good-bye to the Internet as you know it. In the world of a business controlled Web then there is nothing to stop Comcast (or any ISP) from charging tolls and fees to access specific websites. Imagine a Facebook fee added to your ISP bill because you use a lot Facebook, or certain website painfully slow unless you purchase the “gold level” package from your ISP. It could happen!

Before you start waving your “No Big Government” banner at me, consider this. We have laws to protect blocks of land as national parks so everyone can enjoy them. Otherwise big business would have bought the Grand Canyon and turn it into a billion dollar real estate development exclusively for the super wealthy. Net Neutrality is a proposed set of laws to provide the similar protection for the Internet. Without it we could see Internet access controlled by big business and special interest.

This is not a right-left political issue. This is a free speech issue. So before you hop on whatever political train-of-thought you ride, I strongly encourage you to think this through for yourself. Be a free thinker and support a free Internet!

Support Net Neutrality for wired AND wireless. Without Net Neutrality you can kiss good-bye to the Internet as you know it. Be a free thinker and support a free Internet!

While Net Neutrality may not sound sexy, it may be the most important free speech issue of our time. Here’s a video describing why we need Net Neutrality.

The FCC is taking up the Net Neutrality debate for broadband and wired connections. This discussion needs to be extended to include wireless.

Without Net Neutrality greedy corporation will monitor your online activities and charge you more to access certain websites. For example, you will see extra fees on your ISP and wireless bill charging you every time you access Facebook.

Big corporation like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are spending millions trying to convince you that net neutrality is bad. They inaccurately link it with the Tea Party’s anti-big government philosophy. Nothing could be farther the truth. You mean big business is lying to us to increase their profits. What a shock!

Before you start waving your “No Big Government” banner, consider this. We have laws to protect blocks of land as national parks so everyone can enjoy them. Otherwise big business would have bought the Grand Canyon and turn it into a billion dollar real estate development exclusively for the super wealthy. Net Neutrality is a proposed set of laws to provide the similar protection for the Internet. Without it we could see Internet access controlled by big business and special interest.

This is not a right-left political issue. This is a free speech issue. So before you hop on whatever political train-of-thought you ride, think this through for yourself.